WEBVTT ACTIVATED THEIR STAGE 2 FLOODTHAT MEANS WORK NEAR THE LEVEES>> EVERYONE HAD A ROLE TO PLAYMISSISSIPPI.THIS IS THE THIRD HIGH-WATERTHE SECND TIME THE BONNET CARRE>> WE ANTICIPATE HITTING THEJENNIFER: THOSE TRIGGERS ARE THECORPS SAYS THAT’S A THREAT TO>> THEYRE JUST NOT DESIGNED TOTHE WORST CASE IS LEVEE FAILURESJENNIFER: THE CORPS ESTIMATES ITRAINS RETURN, JEFF GRASCHEL,PART OF THE RIVER.JENNIFER: AND WHILE THE RIVER IS>> WITH THE HIGH WATER, THEWE ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO BE AWAREJENNIFER: CORPS IS NOT EXPECTEDTHEY SAID IT DEPENDS ON THEREPORTING LIVE ON THE RIVER

The commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' New Orleans office is recommending that water from the rising Mississippi River be diverted to keep pressure off the New Orleans levee system.

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To help offset the rising river, the Bonnet Carré Spillway will be partially opened beginning Thursday, per a recommendation from the Army Corps. The structure diverts some of the river's water into Lake Pontchartrain.

The river has been rising rapidly after rains upriver fed the Mississippi and its tributaries. Army Corps officials expect the spillway to be opened for about two to four weeks.

The Army Corps works with agency partners to observe the effects of opening the spillway on environmental resources, including monitoring the water quality in Lake Pontchartrain, the introduction of endangered and threatened species (including the pallid and shovel nose sturgeon) into the lake and the impacts of the spillway on fisheries, such as oysters.

The spillway was completed in 1931. It was built in a response to the catastrophic flooding of 1927, when the river reached 21 feet at the Carrollton gauge. That year, 27,000 square miles along the Mississippi River flooded. Some areas had water 30 feet deep.